“Undergraduates in Scotland already have free tuition, saving tens of thousands of pounds over the course of a degree compared to those in the rest of the UK.

“This funding builds on that by expanding help to postgraduates to fund the cost of their fees. Expanding access to tuition fee loans and living cost loans could benefit up to 2,500 students across the country and enable more people to consider studying for postgraduate qualifications.

“We want to make further and higher education as accessible as possible and this positive step will help more people overcome the financial barriers to gaining new qualifications.”

Background

Tuition fee support will be expanded to all eligible full and part-time distance learning students on taught postgraduate diploma and masters courses, living in Scotland from the next academic year.

A living-cost loan of £4,500 will also be made available to full-time students taking distance learning postgraduate courses.